Is Maine DEP Determined to Abolish the Forest Products Industry?
Well it seems this state is always so determined to demolish small business in the name of who knows what. This time it is fish. Now don’t get me wrong, we love fish, and we support a healthy population of fish but when something is changed, we always have to assess the unintended consequences. The latest brilliant idea that comes from the folks who do not suffer any of the consequences, revolves around saving what the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission estimates to be 5 fish.
In summary the problem is that the Maine DEP wants to deny water quality certification for the Shawmut Hydroelectric Dam. The reason they are denying it is because the Brookfield Hydro Company that owns the dam has proposed a new fishway that will be 96% effective. This is inline with the National Marine Fisheries Service standard. But if you haven’t noticed, Maine just likes to take everything to a whole new level. Maine wants it to be 99% effective. If this certification is denied and ultimately, the Shawmut Dam has to be removed, it could result in yet another mill closure in Maine. The loss of countless more jobs in the forest products industry is just plain not worth 5 fish. We have yet to stabilize from the explosion of the Jay mill.
In a letter drafted by the PLC Executive Director, Dana Doran, loggers across the state have made our plea to the Maine DEP, our legislators, and Governor. In the letter he explains, “The Shawmut Dam is crucial to the continued successful operation of Sappi's Somerset Mill. If the Shawmut Dam were to be removed, it would drop the river water level to such an extent that it would render the Mill's intake and wastewater infrastructure inoperable. Sappi has also investigated other alternatives to provide the same amount of water required for basic mill operations and has determined that any technical option is not only too expensive, but it will also not provide certainty that the Mill can operate unfettered in the future.”
Interestingly, just recently the Governor sat down with the PLC and discussed how to improve and support the forest products industry in our state, then two weeks later, a regulatory body is doing the exact opposite. It sounds to me like they might want to get on the same page about where this state is heading and how we are going to get there. Everyone in the forest products industry is working hard to keep this Maine tradition alive. We care deeply about our work and take exceptional care of our environment with regulations, training, and certifications that far exceed any where else in the world. I don’t believe the the benefit of 5 more fish passing through a fishway outweighs the risks of losing one of our last standing mills.
It seems to me that people just plain forget where their “stuff” comes from. It all has to be made, in a mill, in a factory. We share one Earth. Are American’s so out of sight out of mind to remember that if things aren’t made here they will very quickly go to another country where it is much easier to conduct business? Come on Maine, we want to be here, we want to employ Mainers and Mainers want to MAKE stuff not just buy stuff. Let us do it!